Looking for help performing a MTB conversion to drop bar setup.

Thanks to suggestions on another thread here, I recently purchased a Bridgestone MB-2. It is for my son who will use it primarily to commute to school, but also with a San Francisco to Santa Barbara trip next summer. The bike is is fair shape, everything functional. Pics to follow tomorrow when it is light out.

I did some searching and found some good info on performing the overhaul - https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ng-an-Overhaul
As well as tips on fixing dmaged paint - https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...touch-up-paint

I am looking for advice on the conversion part. That is, picking out and getting drop bars, brake levers and shifters. I know there is a ton of personal preference here. My approach would be to keep make the bike similar to the one I have, which has bar end shifters and brake levers. I have only tried brifters once and they seemed pretty loosy goosy, but maybe you get used to that. I would prefer indexed shifters, but I am not sure if they are available for this 6 speed cassette. Also don't know if a 7 speed cassette would fit on this wheel.

Tips and advice n this area is appreciated. I did I have not seen any bar end shifters (aka bar con? ) that are less than 9 speed yet. Am I correct in believing the shift distance for a 8 speed would not work with a 6 or even 7 speed setup? Don't mind asking the dumb questions once . . .

One more question, I have seen bikes that have levers on the drops as well as on the tops of the bars, which looks interesting. Not sure I actually want to implement this, but would be curious to learn about how it works/is set up.

if you have a shimano 6 speed cassette the 8 speed shifters will index on it. You can also use them in friction mode.

They extra levers are variously called cross-top, interrupter levers, and other names... they cable runs though them and they work by compressing the housing (pulling it apart) along the length of the cable as opposed to pulling the cable itself.

First of all, cool bike. I have owned a couple MB-2's and they are excellent!

Regarding your questions, most newer, indexed bar-end shifters are going to be specifically for 8, 9 or 10 speeds. Finding the right 6 speed indexed bar end shifters may be difficult and probably cost prohibitive. However, most any bar end shifters, new or old, can be set to friction which would allow you to use it with any speed, just not indexed. Hope that makes sense.

You also asked about moving the bar ends to the top of the bars. This can be done with a set of bar end shifters and some thumbies from Paul's components: https://www.paulcomp.com/thumbies.html EDIT: I see you meant brake levers. Yes, cross tops.

However, I have always preferred to simply mount mountain bike style thumb shifters on the top of my drop bars. You will have to slightly expand the clamp to fit it over the bars but they will function equally well to a Paul's thumbies, IMO.

Drop bars are indeed a matter of preference. You can typically find a used pair for cheap on craigslist. I would strongly recommend 26mm clamp diameter rather than newer 31.8 because you will need to use a 26mm quill stem on the MB-2. Again, hope that makes sense.

Bars are a personal preference. Your son might like the bars that are there now.

Thanks for all the inputs, greatly appreciated.

Great advice. This reminded me this is not my bike, but my sons. He is going to ride it back and forth to school the next couple days and see how he likes it before I start tweaking everything/anything. Kids have made this trip on mountain bikes with upright bars (and suspension lol!). If he wants to leave it more closer to stock, that's fine. Often better is the enemy of good enough.

That said, he has already asked about a longer seat post, which is in order. Also want to replace the axles with something quick release compatible. Hoping I can pick both these up at the bike co-op.

A bit more research shows my bike is a 1985 MB-2. According to the catalog I found on Sheldon Brown's site the freewheel is a Shimano MDF-1600, assuming that someone did not previously swap it out. I can see the rear derailleur has changed, but the other components appear stock thus far. As far as changing the freewheel goes, I am assuming a 7 speed setup would fit in the same space, need to research this more still.

If and when you do swap out the bars, please keep those original bars around. They're too cool!!!

You can always go with friction bar ends and then it doesn't matter if you run 6, 7, 8, or 9 on the rear: https://www.rivbike.com/product-p/sh1no.htm or https://store.velo-orange.com/index.p...-shifters.html. They're pricey but both are first rate quality and will work with whatever you throw on the back.

There's a world of wisdom right there.

indeed!!

Yeah, I am convinced my son needs indexed, because I prefer it. What I ought to do is switch my shifters over to friction for a week or two and see how I adjust before going crazy over trying to find indexed shifters.

I set my girlfriend up with friction bar ends and she road her touring bike all over Europe with them. When I eventually "upgraded" her to bar ends, she hated them. If you want to go indexed, you need a new derailleur too.. SO you're looking at, new chain, new freewheel, shifters and derailleur. It's a lot to change. Servicing this and putting on some QR axles will make this a pretty robust touring bike. If he needs a longer post the bike may soon be too small for him and then you will lament all the time and aggravation you put into upgrades. I toured with drop bars for years because, that is what people in North America do. After seeing all the serious bike packers in Europe and that NONE of them tour with drop bars I decided to throw on some MTB risers with big two hand position bar ends.... I love it. expedition style touring is way better with some sort of upright and wide handlebar. I may try trekking bars in the future but am pretty happy with MTB and bar ends at the moment. It offers more control and is more comfortable for me. If I want to go fast I grab the forward extensions and hunker down. It is a matter of preference. let him try it as is first.

How tall is your son? That bike already looks small for whoever is riding it now.

Those bullmoose bars on there now are very cool. Are you sure yours aren't above the minimum insertion mark on the stem portion?

I had an MB-2 from the same year that I ran as a single speed for a while. I loved it. It felt like a perfect post apocalypse bike.

I rode a Trek 7000 for 12 years with bar end extensions on it, and loved it until I started getting back problems. May not have been associated with the bar ends, the point is that is certainly a viable option as well. I will certainly take a wait and see attitude before doing a major overhaul. I also wonder if the bike could be too small in a year or two as well. If so, then I can inherit it and tinker to my hearts content then.

The bike is set up for the previous owner still. My son rode it 30 seconds last night and wondered if the seat post went higher. I know it doesn't because I checked that before the purchase. Not sure he needs it higher, we will see when he gets home from school today. His old bike is a BMX where the seat height is 1/3 of the MB-2 . . .

As far as the stem goes,need to check that as well, thanks for the comment.

I bet the trek 7000 had a typical 1990s MTB set up of super long and low. I would guess it was the length of the cockpit more than the type of handlebar that were to blame for your discomfort on the bike (especially when stretched way out on bar ends, you gotta have good core strength for that). Todays MTB fit is completely different. Most people run stems under 70mm. I run an 85mm stem on my xc 29er with risers for a more trail oriented position and I am 6'4" My fat bike has an 80mm stem. Back then they wanted to close the hip angle with a low torso for more XC power. Today it's all about the handling of the bike for the average rider since the terrain is way more technical owing to the advances in suspension technology and changes in geometry. In the early 1990s Most racing component manufacturers didn't make a stem shorter than 110mm and often up to 160mm (syncros for example). Today 110mm it the longest MTB stem you will find.

Maybe you should round up that tall MB-2 as well. At that price, nothing to lose.

https://santabarbara.craigslist.org/bik/4225031955.html

I rode that bike as well, it certainly is a big one, yet it rode comfortably still. It was not in as good of condition as the one I did get. I don't sense that the vintage Bridgestone mountain bike network is all that strong here in SB. And I am not sure yet how much my son is liking the one he has, but if it seems worthwhile I can go grab the other MB-2. It is the next year's model, likely the 21 inch frame. Now you have got me thinking seriously about it . . . .

I am sure at the end of August, anything with air in the tires will sell in Goleta.

Mid 80's Bridgestone bikes are pre-Grant which makes them just another old MTB and not fetch good money. They are a great deal for those of us in the know.